Four months after the Los Angeles area wildfires tore through the Angeles National Forest and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in Altadena, wildlife is returning to the Eaton Fire burn area and scientists are closely tracking them.

Kristen Ochoa, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles medical school, first began documenting the plants and animals that live in the area known as the Chaney Trail Corridor in 2024.

The privately owned area adjacent to Angeles National Forest land was slated for sale and development into a sports complex, so Ochoa and other volunteers set up a network of trail cameras to showcase the biodiversity of the area and take “inventory of everything that was valuable.”

Much of the land was charred and barren after the fires. The group also lost all of its trail cameras, watching as photos of the flames were transmitted before the cameras went dark.

But less than two months after the start of the fires, Ochoa was able to go back out and install new ones to start documenting the landscape's recovery.

"Very quickly we got animals coming back," Ochoa said.

"Coyotes, deer. A bobcat was one of the first species to show up on the cameras. And then more recently, we saw a mountain lion."

While the fires burned aggressively, they also burned unevenly, leaving patches of trees and a small oasis of greenery surrounding a stream untouched. Animals were able to seek refuge there while the rest of their home burned.

Ochoa said they have not come across any deceased animals while scouting the area, but did see an injured bear and deer.

The heavy rain that came in the weeks after the fires have helped with a quick recovery.

On a recent Wednesday morning, Ochoa pointed out several charred San Gabriel oak trees — only found in Southern California — that had rampant green growth around their base.

Ochoa's cameras captured its first mountain lion back in the area March 26, and they have returned as recently as two nights ago.

"When I saw the mountain lion show up on the trail cam, my first inclination was to share that with people who have lost so much during this fire and with our community in Altadena," she ssaid.

"Because it's a sign of hope that nature is returning, that nature is resilient, and that things will return back. It will take time."

As she installed a newly donated trail camera, she pointed out bobcat scat and fresh deer tracks on a ridge that had burned just months before.

The group is partnering with local scientists at UCLA to do more targeted research on bats and birds have fared after the fires as well.

They haven't seen signs of a bear that occasionally came into the area last year yet, but Ochoa isn't too concerned.

She pointed out two red-tailed hawks circling each other high above in a mating ritual in a sign of spring.